Box Score
FAYETTE, Iowa -- Four Minnesota State University Moorhead players scored in double figures as the Dragons dominated Upper Iowa, 78-54, in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference women's basketball Friday night in Fayette, Iowa.

MSUM (12-7, 9-6 NSIC) won for the fifth straight time, while Upper Iowa fell to 7-15 overall and 4-11 in the NSIC. The Dragons are now 14-0 all-time against the Peacocks.

The Dragons, who shot 53.7 percent (29-of-54) for the game, where led by junior Megan Strese, who had 21 points and seven rebounds. Junior Haley Thomforde had 16 points and three steals, while junior Morgan Zabel had 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists off the bench. Senior Marisa Yernatich had 10 points, three assists and three steals.

MSUM held Upper Iowa to 40.8 percent shooting (20-of-49), and held the reigning NSIC Player of the Week, Whitney Kieffer, to just nine points.  She came in averaging 19.6 points per game. The Dragons also had commanding edges in points in the paint (38-20) and points off turnovers (25-10).

The Dragons trailed 10-9 early in the contest but a 19-9 run over a span of the more than seven minutes vaulted them into a 28-19 lead. Strese had six points during the run, while freshman Leah Miller added four points. Yernatich also buried a three.
Upper Iowa cut the lead to 30-26 with 3:37 left, but the Dragons outscored the Peacocks 6-2 over the final stretch of the first half to take a 36-28 lead into halftime.

The Peacocks closed the gap to 41-37 three minutes into the second half, but a decisive 11-2 Dragon run gave MSUM a 52-39 lead with 13:43 left. Thomforde had four points during the run while senior Kaycee Charette buried a three.

The closest Upper Iowa got the rest of the way was eight points at 52-44 with 13:17 left.  The Dragons outscored the Peacocks 10-3 over the next five minutes to build a 64-47 lead, and they never looked back on their way to the 24-point win.

The Dragons outrebounded Upper Iowa, 36-21.  Charette added seven points, two assists and two steals for MSUM, while Miller had six points on 3-of-3 shooting off the bench.

MSUM is at Winona State on Saturday (4 p.m. tipoff) for another NSIC match-up.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Before tonight's 78-54 win, the last time Kaycee Charette had fouled out was during a 64-57 home loss to Southwest Minnesota State on Jan. 3, 2012.